Five Steps for Jughead and Betty
by riverhead
Summary: Betty and Juggie doing couply things. (Even though they're not the most official couple yet.) Fluff. Slightly AU and Episode 6 hasn't happened yet.


**A/N: Heyo - it's your girl riverdale! I still ship Beronica too, but Bughead won out in my fiction-writing brain apparently. Watch this space! (Not this page - just keep an eye out, kay?)**

i. The Hand-Holding

ii. The Hug

iii. The Kiss On the Cheek

iv. The Kiss On The Forehead

v. The Kiss

i.

They're up late at The Blue & Gold.

They're both studiously typing away, not really talking - absorbing infromation and theorising about what happened to Jason Blossom.

The first spooky thing happens in the form of lightning, and how the entire power grid goes out.

They're both freaked, for sure.

Then comes the noise. Something (something heavy) drops in the corridor outside, a couple of metres away from the door.

They both jump, their eyes instinctively darting to each other's.

By unspoken agreement, they both get up and start walking, quietly towards the door.

When they reach the door, they simultaneously take a deep breath, and Betty's hand reaches out to grab Jughead's, a quick, darting move.

The ensuing current that runs through him could power the entire town, and it is on this high that he is emboldened (feeling kind of like he's just been struck by lightning or invincible, or both), throwing open the heavy oak door with a simple two motions.

He peers out, looks left, then right, down the dark, shadowy linoleum, until it comes to rest on a

On the right, a medium-sized black flashlight lies abandoned. They walk to stand above it, looking around to find a total of no persons in the hallway.

He pulls Betty closer so his arm is around her. She's shaking slightly, looking around.

Their internal butterflies are more than a result of the findings and the storm.

"Come on," he whispers. "Let's go to Pop's and grab a bite to eat."

ii.

Somehow, throughout all this sleuthing, they still have schoolwork.

And tests.

(And by God, Jughead hates tests.)

Mathematics will be the death of him, is what he thinks every time he sits down to study.

Even after the death of Jason Blossom, the teachers remain unsympathetic; still laying down the law and carrying on apparently the only way they know how: by making every single student's life miserable and laden with schoolwork and tests.

Betty has cheerleading practice, and Jughead volunteers to remain behind to 'man down the fort' or something. (He always says such stupid things when she's around, and by just looking into her crystalline eyes, his entire grasp of the English language is let go.)

So here he is, sitting down and trying to study, but the math just jumps off of the page and the concepts start screaming in his ears like little pixies until his eyes swim and he's asleep.

In the morning, he's shaken awake by Betty.

"Did you sleep here all night?"

"Apparently so," he says.

She looks kinda hurt for a second, so he tacks on a rushed 'sorry, not a morning person' to the end, and she looks understanding.

"Well, call your parents," she adds. "They've got to be worried."

He's puzzled for a second, and then realises that she doesn't know.

He's debating whether to tell her, but settles on a "nobody misses me", which he finds is the simplest way to state the entire situation.

She looks over his shoulder.

"You do realise I'm in AP Math, right?"

"And about every single other AP class in this joint," he adds.

"Why didn't you ask me for help?"

For a second he's slightly stumped.

"You would do that?"

"Of course, Juggie," she smiles, a small, honest, sunshine smile that takes the edge of his breath away.

"But you're juggling everything else, and -" He shouldn't be needing her help. He can study by himself.

"Don't worry, we'll just halve our writing time. When's the test?" She's now determined, and he has only himself to blame.

"Next Friday."

"Easy peasy!"

He hugs her.

"Thank you," he whispers into her hair.

"Anytime," she whispers back.

iii.

He gets an 'A-' on his paper. The highest mark he's ever gotten in Mathematics, ever.

He runs up to her, gives her a hug, and then kisses her on the cheek.

She blushes, and he falls for her a little more.

iv.

It's three am and she's alone and overwhelmed and there he is, no words spoken, just cuddles and one slow kiss on the forehead as she calms down and falls asleep in his arms.

v.

It's at the Riverdale High School Fair. They're undercover - 'on a date', so many questions would not be asked - but he reckons they can take a couple minutes off to get on the Ferris Wheel.

"Come on, he says, hands in pockets, walking backwards towards the Ferris Wheel. "Bird's eye view is always valuable, right?"

"Yeah," she says, slightly disappointed. "Absolutely."

They get on and they sit in silence, sneaking glances to each other and pretending to look over the railing.

They're almost at the top when he suddenly grabs her hand.

She looks at him.

He looks at her.

Both their eyes are

searching,

searching,

searching.

Then she starts to lean in and suddenly they're kissing and he forgets about everything - its a drug high, falling off of a tall building, and floating in space all in one.

the end.


End file.
